We talked with Sarah Booth about her role as Agent Yvette Nichol on the new Prime Video series Three Pines. Since its debut, the show has been met with rave reviews and holds an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Based on the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels by author Louise Penny, Three Pines stars Alfred Molina as the titular character. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache “investigates cases beneath the idyllic surface of the Quebec village, Three Pines, finding long-buried secrets and facing a few ghosts of his own.”
The first season launched on December 2nd and is scheduled to conclude with a two-part finale on December 23rd.
HGL: Let’s jump right in and talk about Three Pines. Tell me a bit about your character Agent Nichol, who is very interesting and a lot of fun, too.
Sarah Booth: Yeah, she was so much fun but what’s really interesting is in the books, she’s hard-headed, argumentative, she takes Gamache’s advice, and kind of applies her own spice to it as she likes to do things her way, so she’s a little bit unlikeable in the books, which was really interesting. When I got the audition breakdown, they were saying she was awkward, she’s eager, and when I did my research, as I hadn’t read the books, I realized that the character on the TV show was very different than the one in the books.
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This gave me the freedom, with the creators, to create my own character, and while she does share some characteristics with the character of Yvette from the books, I describe my version as a puppy. In the books, she’s more of a feline, and on the show, yeah, a puppy. She wants to be part of the team; she wants to please and do a good job.
HGL: The show has an excellent lead in Alfred Molina and feels like a great team effort. Did everyone have chemistry right away, or did it come over time?
Sarah Booth: What was really great working with Alfred, and everyone, is your number one really sets the tone for the show, and he comes from a theater background, so it really felt like we were an ensemble, like a touring theater show. There is no ego, there is no hierarchy with him, and he’s always open to discussing a scene to run lines before a scene, he just felt like he was an equal, and he was excited to have us there.
If a scene you did really landed well, he’d come up to you and go, “that was so good, Sarah,” so he was amazing to work with; I have zero complaints. You could tell he was excited to be there, and it wasn’t just about him. He’s also an executive producer, so he really got involved with everything to do with the show and listened to any and all concerns.
HGL: Filming this series must feel like you’re coming full circle. You started your career in Montreal, went to Toronto, then Los Angeles, and now you are back in Montreal for Three Pines. Can you tell me a little bit about that journey?
Sarah Booth: I grew up in a small town called Ormstown. At the time, I think the population was two thousand people, and it’s very similar to Three Pines. There are English speakers and French speakers, and everyone knows everyone else’s business (laughs). It was funny because, while filming the series, some of the locations were only twenty minutes from my hometown, so it really felt like a homecoming of sorts.
Once I knew I wanted to be an actor, I moved to Montreal. I did a three-year theater program, and not only did I learn about acting and classical theater (which I had no idea about), but I also learned how to put on my own show, run lights, and make costumes, so I feel that part of my education really fueled my career as well.
Once I graduated from theater school, I made my own work. Then, I was lucky enough to get an agent and got on a French soap opera for three years. Later, I moved to Toronto, which I thought was the next big step, but I actually had a lot of trouble in Toronto. I couldn’t get an audition to save my life. So I started dabbling in stunts, I come from a physical background of sports and horseback riding, and I got to meet a lot of people in the film world that way. Then moved to LA and did the Waterworld live stunt show, which was fantastic.
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I just started hustling, auditioning, and knocking on doors, but it was when I moved back to Canada during the pandemic that really offered me some of the biggest roles I’ve gotten so far.
HGL: When did you realize you wanted to pursue acting as a career or was it more like a happy accident?
Sarah Booth: Oh, it was a happy accident. The town I grew up in was very much sports-oriented, which was great because I love sports, but our high school got an arts program, I believe, when I was in grade ten, and I got a part in a play and was hooked. I had no idea this could be a career path. I just assumed the people on television weren’t real people (laughs), so it never crossed my mind.
I grew up dancing, I loved being on stage, I loved competing, so I was very used to the showmanship side of it, and after I did this play, yeah, I was hooked. I had no plan B, but my parents were so supportive, so it was nice, just like a perfect storm.
HGL: You’ve done a lot of work in television. Is that your favorite medium to work in, or has it just worked out that way?
Sarah Booth: It has really just worked out that way. If I had to choose, and I’d hate to have to choose, I’d pick television. I like the pace of it, it’s a little bit quicker than film, and it’s really rewarding for me. I like that you don’t know where your character is going to end up, which is kind of exciting, and it feels more like a team effort in terms of creating characters and writing to your style and quirks, so it feels much more collaborative that way.
HGL: In Three Pines, you get to build your character over the eight episodes. As an actor, did you approach this role differently than, say, when you’ve done a one-off or guest spot on another series?
Sarah Booth: Oh, this is definitely different, yeah. For this role, I had meetings with the director and producer, you get a little bit more say when you’re a bigger part of the show, so they want to make sure you’re happy because you’re offering so much to the show. You want to make sure they are happy because their vision is very important as well.
It was really a different experience because usually, as a guest star, your audition is what they want, you say your lines, and that’s it, which is fine, so it’s really nice to have more say and more artistic expression in my character on Three Pines than I usually do.
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HGL: The storyline in Three Pines involving missing indigenous women, unfortunately, feels like something ripped right from the headlines in Canada. Did those stories break while you were filming, or had you already finished filming the show?
Sarah Booth: The show was actually delayed quite a few months because of Covid, so the scripts were written before the headlines of the unmarked graves hit the news. I think the timing for this show to be out there in the world is so important, especially in Canada, because that is the storyline that’s going to be bringing us to the end of the season, and I don’t think there are many big shows in Canada that have put that story on the forefront.
I think for a lot of the population, it’s going to be news, which is incredibly important for people to realize what was going on. This isn’t a true story but is based on far too many true stories.
HGL: Over the last few years, women are finally getting more prominent roles in this industry, both in front of and behind the camera. Do you see a change for the better, or do we still have a long way to go?
Sarah Booth: I think both, really. I think it’s going in the right direction that women are getting the bigger roles, and deservedly so. Tracey Deer, a director on the show and also Mohawk, contributed so much knowledge to the script and the indigenous storyline and was an incredible director. Her career has just blown up since she’s been on our show; I’m really excited for her.
What’s really fun about our show is the female characters are so well written and written by Louise Penny, the author of the book series. We were extremely lucky to get the quality of female talent on this show; it was incredible. Yeah, we have a ways to go still, but I think we’re on the right path.
HGL: Besides Three Pines, what other upcoming projects do you have?
Sarah Booth: Well, this year has been pretty busy. I’ve been working on Murdoch Mysteries; murder mysteries seem to be the theme for me this year (laughs). I also worked on a show called Transplant, which was shot in Montreal, so I got to go home for that, which was fantastic. We are producing our own films right now. My husband is a filmmaker, so we are really excited to get some projects going here in Windsor, Ontario, where we live.
I also think people should check out Last Call, a movie that came out about two years ago. Gavin and I made it, it’s a one-take feature, and it’s a very different side of my work, so people might find that interesting as well.
I want to thank Sarah for taking the time to talk with us.
